IMHO using AppData should be an option... I'm sure I'm not the only one vastly to prefer using the directory where the AP executable resides over AppData. Also, some people, even with Vista/Win7 etc have non-MS-standard drive layouts and *can* write to the AP directory. Others have Windows XP or use Wine. To be flexible in this regard is a good thing, I think.

I'm running AkelPad on Windows 7, and have placed the entire program in a folder beneath Documents (Documents/Apps/AkelPad), just like I do for most of my 3rd-party software. AP has no problem writing any of its .ini files there, and always performs flawlessly.

Using that AppData folder is something I avoid like the plague, yet many programs calling themselves "portable" continue to write to it, even if they don't use installers and are stored in my Documents/Apps folder.